The theme for Burning Man this year is “The Green Man” which everyone keeps interpreting as “The Environmentally Sensitive Man” even though …. take a look at what Wikipedia has to say about the Green Man, you’ll notice that there is no mention of such.

Well, I overheard this email on the interweb (when your eyes glaze over, just look below):

Thanks for your email and inquiry: kudos to you for seeking out the best environmental option for your art piece. Our service is like public transportation: it takes less of an environmental toll when you have one vehicle mass transporting many things rather than many vehicles burning fuel inefficiently, also carrying many things. Our trucks are typically standard 53′ ones, and they do run on diesel, which is what all transport basically runs on as of now (although I’m pushing my company to look at potential biodiesel options–that’ll be sometime down the road, though). Our trucks are newer, so they have more efficient engines and lighter components than most other fleets. I absolutely care about limiting vehicular impact on the environment, and I believe this is the best option for mass transport to an event like this, even though trucks seem like huge consumers of fuel. I’m trying to get as many Burners on board for each given location: if we maximize the load in each truck trailer, that’s the most efficient (and cost effective) method of transport, so you could help out by talking with other locals about sharing a truck, thereby saving you money and limiting the environmental impact.

Just to give you an idea on shipping estimates from Oregon (let me know if this is an incorrect origination) to BRC would come to $1286.26 each way for 2000 lbs, or $1785.58 for 3000 lbs: this is for space on a truck, but I’m also working to get you a quote on a full truck as a comparison, so stay tuned for that. Are you bringing your artwork back, or will it be burned?

The estimates are based on distance traveled and weight–we also look at dimensions, but I just guess-timated since I don’t know your shipment dimensions. I’m not taking a margin (as a salesperson) because I don’t want to make money off burners–burners have done so much for me and it’s such a part of my community that that would be unconscionable to profit (besides–that’s against the ethic of the whole thing!). The company does have to recoup their costs, so that’s the lowest they’ll let me go on the LTL (or less-than-truckload) transport. I’ll actually be on the playa managing the unloading and reloading because the artwork is a really important part of it to me and I’ll ensure that your shipment arrives on time and intact.

Anyway–let me know what you think of the estimate, and I’ll get the full truck quote to you as soon as I have it.

Let me paraphrase the above treatise, “You’ve got a lot of stuff to move? For a price, we can put it on a truck and move it for you.“